Electric Vehicle

All-electric cars are starting to gain quite a bit of momentum. Many consumers are waiting for auto manufacturers to come down in pricing, and bring an affordable model to market before they’re ready to make the plunge. Chevy has their new Bolt, which is the first bank-account-friendly model from a major manufacturer. Tesla has the Model 3 incoming, and a new report suggests Ford is getting in the game, too, and will announce an affordable all-electric car this year. [Update: Ford has denied the report; more after the cut]

Rumors and leaks about Apple's electric vehicle, which may or may not be self-driving, just keeps on pouring in. Apple has been known to eye cars but, until recently, everyone presumed it was just for in-vehicle infotainment systems. Now insider sources are revealing just how aggressive Cupertino's automobile push really is, saying that the iPhone maker is eying a 2020 deadline for its rumored Titan EV. That is, of course, if it manages to overcome not just technological hurdles but recent new legal problems as well.

When it comes to electric vehicles, perhaps Tesla is the name that most often pops up in conversations. In fact, when it comes to cars in general, majority of the names and brands are located in the West, with a few notable exceptions. Sri Lanka, however, doesn't want to simply accept the status quo and wants to prove that the tiny South Asian nation can also innovate and deliver in that field. And this Vega luxury sports car may very well be the proof that it needs.

Getting around by bike rather than car or bus has its advantages, but not everyone wants to be stuck pedaling for endless miles. That's where electric bicycles come into play, making it easier to travel long distances and traverse up steep hills. The downside to electric bikes are their range limitations -- you'll only get so far before you need to charge the bike or go back to pedaling. The Leaos Solar electric bike could solve that issue, at least for those in sunny locations, due to its built-in solar panels.

Who says electric cars have to be boring? Toyota's Prius may be poster child for the eco-pious, but its i-ROAD tilting trike shows there's still potential for madness in the EV. SlashGear is no stranger to the i-ROAD, and in fact we've driven earlier prototypes over in Japan before now. They're less commonly found in the US, however, but Makoto Morita, Grand Master of the Product Planning Division and lead of the i-ROAD project brought a handful with him to test the waters among potential American drivers.

Now that most major auto manufacturers are producing electric cars, we can look to the next phase of the plan: infrastructure. Save for Tesla, we’ve not heard too much about charging stations implemented in a big way. Today, VW and BMW are announcing a joint venture with ChargePoint to bring a series of fast charging stations to the East and West Coasts of the United States. Their goal is to get roughly 100 fast chargers implemented between Boston and Washington DC, and from Portland, Oregon to San Diego.

Walking is overrated, at least some of the time. Skateboards are the de facto way to breeze from place to place in a compact way, but maybe you find them to be a bit too much work. To fill that gap is the Hovertrax, a sort of compact Segway small enough to carry and powerful enough to tote someone from room to room. Though it somewhat resembles a skateboard, the Hovertrax features two large wheels on either end, and rolls from side to side rather than front-to-back.

At CES 2015, Volkswagen revealed its fancy Golf R Touch interface for future smart cars. Now at the Detroit Auto Show 2015, it will be showing off something less hi-tech but still forward-looking. The five-seater Cross Coupe GTE concept SUV, its latest plug-in hybrid, will be showcasing new features, new technologies, and new designs that the car maker will be putting into a more imminent model, a seven-seater mid-size SUV that it plans to reveal to the world near the end of 2016.

As hinted way back in November, Chevrolet has come out with a new version of its Volt hybrid electric vehicle in time for the 2015 Detroit Auto Show this week. If there's a common theme to this new EV, it would be "more". The car boasts of an increased EV range of 50 miles, 420 miles if you count on the "extended range" mode. It now also boasts of five seats, up from the previous four. The only thing that seemingly didn't increase is the weight of certain parts.

NVIDIA's Tegra X1 processor paired with NVIDIA DRIVE CX studio technology had the company suggesting they'd be powering the smart consoles of the next generation of smart vehicles. But what good is a system like this without actual, real integration? Surprise - NVIDIA's been working with the Renovo group to bring a Tegra X1-powered smart console to their prototype EV Coupe over the past several weeks. It's not only impressive to see in action - it's a testament to the quick optimization and integration powers of NVIDIA's software system.